New quakes registered in the S Siberian region of Tuva

The epicenter of the quake was located 130 km northeast off the township of Saryg-Sep

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GORNO-ALTAISK, January 2 (Itar-Tass) - A total of two new quakes have been registered in the southern Siberian region of Tuva since Sunday night.

At around 10:30 local time /02:30 GMT/ a quake measuring 4.2 points on the open-ended Richter scale occurred in the district of Kaa-Khem, Luiza Sevil, the press secretary of the Tuva branch of the federal Ministry for Emergency Situations and Civil Defense /EMERCOM/ said Monday.

The epicenter of the quake was located 130 km northeast off the township of Saryg-Sep, the district’s administrative center. At the time of reporting, there was no information on either victims or destruction.

Sevil recalled that this was the fourth aftershock since the start of the year 2012. The three previous aftershocks were registered Sunday, January 1.

All the aftershocks have had the intensity of 3 to 4 points on the Richter scale so far.

All in all, 65 minor quakes have been registered in Tuva since December 27, when a major earthquake measuring 9.5 points occurred.

Alexander Shelekhov, the head of the Kaa-Khem district administration, told Itar-Tass the local residents experienced slight tremors of their houses but exercised restraint.

However, people are worried by an underground buzzing, which they can hear since Sunday morning.

The monitoring of the seismic situation is being done round the clock. Researchers say the presence of aftershocks inspire optimism in the sense that the initial quake of 9.5 points will not repeat.

Surveyors believe the possibility of another strong earthquake on the territory of Tuva is reduced to a minimum, but the commission coordinating the emergency steps remains on high alert.